It's Not the Time, It's the Distance
by levichooseyou
Summary: Cath and Levi try to make their new relationship work over time and distance in the summer following Cath's freshman year. My take on the continuation of the book Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Cath & Levi.


**This is my first attempt at Fangirl fanfiction. I just loved Cath and Levi so much that I couldn't let them go! So here is my take on how their story continued. I hope you like it and thanks so much for reading! **

**Oh, and obviously, I claim no ownership to these characters or anything created by the lovely Rainbow Rowell… and whatever other disclaimer is necessary, yadda yadda yadda… ;)**

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><p>"So I've been thinking…"<p>

Cath barely glanced away from her laptop to look at her dad as he came to stand in the doorway of her room, leaning against the jam contemplatively.

Wren didn't even look in his direction as she prompted, "That's sounds dangerous," as her thumbs continued their rapid-fire texting. Since school ended just over a week ago she had kept up a near constant texting conversation with her boyfriend, Jandro.

"No, I'm serious," their dad continued. "I was thinking I should repurpose that beautiful piece of mahogany over there." Now they both looked up to follow his gesture toward the antique dresser sitting empty across the room. They turned their gazes to each other to share a dramatic eye roll and identical exasperated grins, like they could read each other's mind.

"You can roll your eyes all you want, but clearly it is not needed up here," he explained. "I mean, who would need a hand crafted, perfect specimen of human industry- one that has been passed down in our family for four generations now- when they have a few perfectly serviceable neon totes?" He used his toe to nudge a Rubbermaid container overflowing with their clothes. Jeans, leggings, and Simon Snow T-shirts were spilling out and pooling onto the floor around it.

Cath started to giggle as she looked around the room at the unholy mess of riffled-through totes and boxes that held the unpacked contents of their dorm rooms. "It just seems kind of pointless to unpack when we'll just have to _repack _it all in three months," she pointed out reasonably.

"I couldn't agree more, Cather," her dad said, voice thick with sarcasm. "Why bother unpacking and living like _actual_ human beings for the rest of the summer when you can just continue to scavenge through totes full of wrinkled clothes like a couple of raccoons?"

Cath laughed, turning back to the chapter she was working on as Wren swung her legs over the side of her bed to face their dad fully. "I'll unpack it," she declared enthusiastically. He and Cath both immediately shot her suspicious glances.

"Okaaay…" he said, drawing out the word on a breath of skepticism. "Why do I suddenly feel like I need brace myself for impact?"

"What?" Wren asked, trying a little too hard to sound guileless. "You want the stuff unpacked… I said I'd unpack it…"

Cath was trying hard to repress the laugh bubbling up inside her. She knew what was coming. Wren gave her the wide-eyed glare that was the universal signal for _would you just play it cool? _

"Alright, Wren. I know I'm about to be lambasted, so just lay it on me," their dad said, shaking his head in resignation.

"You are not about to be _lambasted_," Wren responded as though she were the adult and he was the over dramatic teenager. She looked down, twisting her index finger in a string trailing across her thigh from her cut-off denim shorts for a few seconds before she continued. "_Buuut_… I _was_ going see if it was cool with you if I went down to Lincoln on Friday to spend a night with Jandro."

"Ah ha!" he barked on a laugh, sticking his finger up in the air like a caricature of a scientist in a 'eureka' moment. "There it is… _lambasted." _

"Daaad! _Come on!_" Wren whined. "I haven't seen him in _forever-"_

"A week isn't exactly _forever," _he interrupted, imitating Wren's whining tone on the last word.

"-and I've been really responsible for months now," she continued, ignoring his interruption. "Don't you think I have earned back a little trust?" Their dad opened his mouth to respond but Wren plowed on before he could. "And it's summer so it's not like there are even enough people around that there would actually be anything even resembling a party going on. And I'm going to be so bored here with Cath gone all weekend. And I promise I won't drink at all. And I'll call you to check in. And you know how responsible Jandro is-"

"I don't actually," he finally said over her tirade of justifications. "I barely know Jandro at all. What I _do _know about Jandro is that you started dating him in the midst of your several month long drunken bender."

"_Dad!_ Why do you have to be so melodramatic!?" Wren cried melodramatically. "Cath tell him! Jandro is _really_ responsible."

"It's true," Cath piped in, finding the whole scenario rather comical. "Jandro is, like, light years more responsible than Wren." She laughed when Wren stuck her tongue out at her childishly. "And way more mature too."

"Why is it okay for Cather to go off with Levi for the whole weekend, but I can't go to Lincoln for _one night?_ I mean, they are going to be staying together _in a hotel_ the whole time. It'll be a miracle if she doesn't come back pregnant-"

"Hey!" Cath said indignantly, ignoring the pleasant swooping sensation in her stomach at the thought of the upcoming weekend.

"It's okay for Cather to go with Levi because I know Levi. And Cather has never had to have her stomach pumped," he responded in his infuriatingly calm Dad Voice before turning to Cath. "And don't you dare come home pregnant."

Cath held her hands up, palms facing out in a defensive gesture. "This isn't about me! We are going to a _wedding_… in a _hotel_… Where else would we stay? It's not like Levi is creating some nefarious love nest or something."

Their dad sighed and turned back to Wren. "Why don't you invite Jandro over here on Friday? Give me a chance to get to know him and decide for myself if he is as mature and responsible as your sister says. If all goes well, _maybe_ I will let you go back to Lincoln with him."

An ecstatic smile lit up Wren's face as she jumped up and threw her arms around him. "Thank you, Dad! You'll love Jandro. I promise. And I swear you can totally trust him."

"Okay, okay. You don't need to maul me over it," he said, but it was clear he was totally basking in Wren's full megawatt appreciation. "Both of you work on getting this stuff unpacked. I can only imagine the house catching fire and you both burning to death up here because you can't get to the door over all the crap," he called over his shoulder as he turned to walk out of the room.

Wren stood up and walked to a stack of boxes across the room. "Well, the fact that he even noticed the mess is a good sign, right? He seems good lately."

"Yeah, I guess." Cath saved her progress on the latest chapter of _Carry On, Simon_. "Thanks for throwing me under the bus, jerk," she said, only half joking as she waited for her laptop to power off.

"Sorry," Wren said, still glowing. "It was a calculated risk. You know Dad won't stop you from going with Levi. You know how he is… I think he might be even more crazy about Levi than you are."

Cath grinned, not bothering to deny it. Everybody who knew Levi was crazy about him. "That's because he's perfect," Cath said as she emptied one of the totes on her bed to begin sorting.

"Ech," Wren laughed, pretending to stick her finger down her throat. "Who knew you being in love would be so vomit-inducing."

"You're just jealous," Cath responded in a very un-Cath-like sing song voice. "Jealous because there is one person who loves Levi even more than me and Dad… and it's Jandro."

Wren rolled her eyes yet again, but didn't argue. "God, I know… Jandro and Levi: the bromance to end all bromances."

They both laughed and Cath asked, "If they were a celebrity couple what would their name be? Landro?"

"No, it'd be Jevi! It's perfect because it sounds totally pukey!" Wren said and they both fell onto Cath's bed in a fit of laughter.

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><p>On Thursday, the day before Levi was scheduled to pick Cath up so she could accompany him to his sister's wedding, Cath found herself in dELIA*S at the Westroads Mall, acting as her sister's personal Barbie Doll. Cath absolutely hated shopping for clothes, but Wren had finally convinced her that she should just suck it up and go. Not only would she feel more confident meeting Levi's family for the first time if she looked her best, but it would probably mean a lot to him that she made the extra effort to impress.<p>

And she had to admit, despite her protests in the past about not needing to dress up for Levi, she had indulged a few fantasies over the past few weeks of looking so good at the wedding that he would be overcome by lust.

"Oh my god!" Wren exclaimed from her perch on a hard plastic chair as Cath stepped out of the dressing room to show her what seemed like the hundredth dress. "That's the one! Cather! That is _so _The One!"

Cath blushed at her sister's enthusiasm and approached the three-way mirror, examining herself from every angle. Her mouth dropped open at the sight that greeted her. Even Cath's serious level of self-doubt couldn't erase the fact that she looked really great in this dress.

It was an above the knee, sleeveless A-line with a boat neck, made of a plum colored silk crepe that was sheer on top to reveal a pale bustier underneath. The form fitting top emphasized her small waist and the fuller skirt was very flattering on her pear-shaped figure. The dress was flirty without being too cutesy. Wearing it, Cath felt like the kind of fun and trendy girl that she would see on campus and roll her eyes at for making such a fuss about her appearance, but that she would also secretly be jealous of for looking so fashionable and put together.

"You look hot in this dress, Cath," Wren said, coming to stand behind her. "I would say I want to borrow it after the wedding, but I don't think it will survive the night after Levi rips it off of you."

"God, shut up!" Cath protested, embarrassed but also secretly pleased. Her sister just grinned at her knowingly. She couldn't hide anything from Wren.

Hearing a phone buzz Wren returned to the chair where she had left her purse and Cath's phone and wallet. "It's yours," she said, smiling. "A text from Lover Boy."

"After the string of your ex-boyfriends that I've suffered through in silence, I can't believe you have the audacity to tease me so relentlessly over Levi," Cath said, walking over and holding out her hand for the phone.

Wren clutched it to her chest. "Can I read it?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow mischievously.

"What!? No!"

"Why not? Do think it might be a sext?"

"Don't be gross. We barely even _sex _yet_, _let alone sext." Cath snatched her phone out of Wren's hand and paced away a safe distance to check the message, her heart thumping in pleasant anticipation.

"_I have a great idea. i leave work early and come pick you up tonight. Brilliant right?" _Levi had written.

Cath knew Wren was watching her, but she couldn't quite stop the telling grin that split her face. "_you didn't reserve the hotel room until tomorrow night, where would we stay?"_

"_my house, mom's so tied up with wedding stuff she probably wouldn't even notice," _he wrote. Cath could perfectly picture which of his ten thousand smiles was on his face as he typed it- the one he used when he thought he had everything all figured out.

Cath laugh out loud, earning another quirked eyebrow from Wren. "_I'm already terrified your mom is going to hate me. I'm not going to risk meeting her for the first time as I sneak into her house uninvited" _And then, just because she wanted to keep up their playful tone, _"besides I have to finish shopping. I'm buying shoes and new underwear to go with the dress I picked out ;) and wren is going to teach me to do my hair in something other than a knot on top of my head"_

"_new underwear?" _came his immediate response, causing Cath to smile triumphantly.

"_Yep"_

"_so am I going to get to see your new underwear"_

"_idk… maybe if you play your cards right… I might be persuaded."_

"_Aaahhh! You're killing me… god I miss you" _Cath knew that, at this moment, he was fisting his hand into the floppy blond hair that she loved so much. _"you could send me a pic of them to get me through the night without you…"_

"_Behave! … and I miss you too. This has been a long 2 weeks :("_

"_I really wish I were seeing you tonight… but I should get back to work. I'll be there around 11 tomorrow morning, you should by some lip balm while your out cuz I'm going to kiss your face off for at least a hour when I finally see you."_

Cath suppressed the excited squeal that wanted to bubble up inside her. _"okay, see you then"_

"_love you 3" _Wow, could he be any more adorable? Cath didn't think so.

"_love you too. Muah! Xoxoxo"_

She was blushing brightly as she turned back toward Wren, who had her arms crossed and an _I'm so onto you _look written plainly across her face. Thankfully she refrained from teasing Cath any further.

When they were driving home a while later- after Wren had convinced Cath to buy a pair of heels she was certain she wouldn't be able to walk in and forced her to suffer through the indignity of a trip to Victoria's Secret- she turned to Cath and said, "It isn't _actually _gross, you know."

"Huh?" Cath muttered confused, averting her eyes from the road just long enough to see Wren's serious expression.

"Sex. And sexting… and sex stuff generally," Wren explained. "You told me not to be gross earlier… But it's not actually gross. You shouldn't think that it is."

"I know that it's not gross." Cath was blushing again. "I just… you know that Levi and I _do stuff_. I just don't like talking about it." Wren didn't respond so Cath eventually went on. "And I still don't think you should be sexting. Do you want to end up on one of those disgusting 'Ex-Girlfriend' websites?"

"Jandro wouldn't do that!" Wren exclaimed indignantly. "I mean, do you actually think _Levi_ would do that?"

Cath knew Levi wouldn't. "No, of course not… But I can barely bring myself to let him _see_ me in person. I don't need to add technology to the equation at this point."

Wren shoved her shoulder playfully. "You shouldn't feel self-conscious, Cath. I happen to know you're super-hot, no matter how much you try to hide it. You look just like me, after all."

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><p>That night- after Wren had shown her a simple way to style her hair and she had practiced walking in her new heels until her feet were numb- Cath stood in the bathroom she shared with her sister, scrutinizing her figure in the full length mirror on the back of the door. She was wearing only her new, lacey underwear- a matching set, which was somewhat of a novelty for Cath. Levi's request and her conversation with Wren in the car had been turning over in her mind for the past several hours. Biting her lip, she raised her phone, opened the camera app and, taking a deep breath, snapped a few pics.<p>

She scrolled through to find the best one and held her thumb poised over the 'send' button. Cath stood there for a few minutes, wracked with indecision, shifting her wait from foot to foot nervously. Returning her glance to the mirror she contemplated her image. Her breasts were neither small nor large, her stomach was not quite flat, and her hips and thighs were both full enough that it was unlikely anyone would think to describe her as slender. Cath turned and looked over her shoulder to contemplate her behind. This part of her was nice enough she supposed. Levi seemed to like it anyway… She smiled to herself, remembering the first time they had done more than just kiss in a rush of sweet longing.

They were in his room- the _aerie_- and Cath had just removed Levi's shirt, her appreciation of his beauty inspiring her to instigate a heated make out session. They kissed… _a lot. _But this time was different. This was the first time Cath ever considered moving past kissing. The first time when considering what was going on in Levi's lap made her want to remove her own clothes and curl up next to him rather than flee and curl up on his loveseat in anxiety.

It took every ounce of boldness she possessed to finally lift her arms over her head, hoping he would take it as permission to initiate something more. It had taken Levi a few seconds to catch up, casting a bemused look over Cath as though he wasn't quite sure what she expected of him- or maybe he was too afraid to hope this was actually happening. When he finally reached over and pulled Cath's sweater over her head, his face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. This, more than anything, cast away any remaining doubt she was harboring over whether or not she wanted to take thins further.

She loved Levi. She knew she wanted him to be her first, even if that didn't happen right away. The school year was quickly coming to an end and Cath knew she would miss him desperately and regret not taking full advantage of their time together. So, taking a deep, bracing breath she inched her knees forward so that her legs were pressed into his hip and leaned forward to take his mouth with hers. Levi reciprocated, leading with his jaw and bottom lip in his characteristic way, before letting his tongue sweep against hers, deepening the kiss, showing her exactly where he hoped this was going.

After a few moments Cath felt Levi's hands on either side of her waist, pulling her closer and urging her to straddle his lap again. Her skin erupted in sensitive gooseflesh at the feel of his long, calloused fingers and she didn't hesitate to swing her leg over his and settle down on his thighs. She immediately reached around her back to unclasp her bra, suddenly desperate to feel her chest pressed flush against his.

Cath broke the kiss to lean back and draw her bra forward down her arms. Levi watched her intently, his eyes flitting back and forth quickly between her eyes and her breasts as they were revealed to him. Once Cath tossed the bra aside his eyes no longer seemed to be suffering from indecision as to where they should rest. As nervous as she was she felt the urge to giggle bubbling up inside her as his gaze stayed intently fixated on her now bare chest, causing her nipples to tighten into hard buds.

She watched as his tongue darted out quickly to wet his lips and his already flushed skin darkened as an even deeper blush spread across his face, neck, and chest. Cath imagined she must look similar as her skin felt hot and prickly all over.

"_Levi,"_ she intoned after a minute, embarrassed by his regard.

His hands suddenly spread across her back, pulling her close so that her breasts were flattened against his chest, his light smattering of hair tickling her sensitized skin. He kissed her again, quick and hard, before pulling away just enough to speak with his mouth still pressed to hers, their harsh breaths mingling. "You are so beautiful. Thank you."

Cath's face split in a broad smile at his words. "For what?"

"For letting me see you. For being here with me… For being mine." And then they were kissing again, open and wet- the kind of kiss that would be extremely uncomfortable to witness occurring between someone else, but that didn't seem like you'd ever get enough of when it was yours.

Cath's hips canted forward of their own volition and they both groaned deeply as her softness notched against his hardness. Why had she been so intent on avoiding this part of him? This part of him was… _wow_. She pushed forward again, then again, until her hips caught a rhythm and they had to break the kiss in order to accommodate their panting breath, which neither of them could seem to avoid.

Levi's hands slid down Cath's back until they were pressing into her backside, urging her forward even harder. Cath pressed her forehead into his and their gazes locked, totally lost in each other.

Cath soon began to feel dissatisfied, like she needed more- more pressure, more direct contact, more skin touching skin. She slid her fingers into his, reveling in the silky slide between her fingers, and pulled just enough to tilt his face up to hers. "Please," she implored, not even certain what she was asking for.

"What do you need, sweetheart?"

She moaned in frustration, but she couldn't bring herself to voice her need. "I don't know," she panted in growing desperation.

Levi gave her one of his ten thousand smiles, this one sexy and knowing and slightly cocky. He gripped Cath tightly to hold her in place as he lifted her and flipped them both so that she was lying on the bed and he was over her, nestled between her legs. _He_ thrust into _her_ this time and there was something primitive and possessive about the movement that made Cath desperate to shed their remaining clothes and feel him fully against her.

"_Cather_," he rasped, his voice husky with need. "Please tell me what you want." She failed to articulate more than a whimper as his hand coasted upward along her side to gently knead her breast and his lips coasted downward to press gentle suction along her neck. "Can I touch you?" he finally murmured against her throat when it became apparent that she wouldn't answer. Cath nodded her consent and Levi's excited breath came out as a gasp as he leaned back to unbutton her jeans.

What came next was a revelation to Cath. She realized for the first time how much better the intimacy she was sharing with Levi made something she had been doing herself for at least the past five years. And almost better than the release he gave her was the obvious enjoyment he took in it.

Now, remembering the smug, happy grin he had worn after this first time he had given her an orgasm, she missed him desperately. The memory helped her cast her insecurity aside, at least temporarily… at least long enough to hit 'send' so that she could show her boyfriend how much she missed and appreciated and desired him.

She was changing out of the new underwear and into her sleep shorts and t-shirt when her phone pinged with his response. She laughed out loud when she saw what he had sent- a picture of himself, just his adorable face spread with a wide grin and wide, excited eyes.

"_:)"_ she sent, inordinately pleased with his reaction.

"_I think I should drive up there tonight. I litterally cant wait another night to see you!"_

"_you better not! I will worry about you driving that far this late." _

"_are you purposely trying to torture me"_

"_I would never… ;) maybe you just need a cold shower"_

"_I DO!"_

Cath was laughing as she typed, _"well I'll let you go take care of that then. I'll see you tomorrow. I can't wait"_

"_fine… see you tomorrow. Goodnight sweetheart :)"_

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><p><strong>FYI, the horrible spelling and grammar in the text convos is totally intentional. <strong>

**School keeps me super busy, so I'm not sure how frequently this will be updated, but I'll try! Thanks again for reading! **


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